Effective as of October 1, employers in Malaysia who continue to hire and harbour illegal foreign workers will have their assets and bank accounts frozen, The New Straits Times Online reported on Friday.

Immigration Department director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali said the immigration officials have given enough time for employers to comply with the law.

He said action can be taken under the Anti-Trafficking in Person and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007.

“Beginning tomorrow, strict enforcement will be taken. We will not tolerate such actions any more,” said Mustafar, adding, however, that investigation will be carried out before any action is taken.

He noted that hiring and harbouring illegal foreign workers were serious offences.

The immigration chief earlier warned that assets of employers in the industrial sector who hire and harbor illegal foreign workers would be frozen from next month as provided for under the law.

YANGON (The Irrawaddy) — For possessing the phone number of an officer in an ethnic armed group, the itineraries of visits to Rakhine by Pope Francis and Vice President U Myint Swe, and police reports of violence in northern Rakhine State,...

"We are totally disappointed with today’s conviction. This conviction shows that we are in a bad condition, despite the appearance that the country is heading for a functioning democratic system, freedom of expression and rule of law"